As fathers we want to leave our children with a legacy that they can be proud of. A dad looks to pass on what he as learned in life and share it with his kids. We hope that our kids take what we have taught them and be positive examples and do good in the world. Yet there are times where roles are reversed. A parent gets to see the impact that their children make in this world.

Most of those times are filled with happiness and joy. Yet there are other instances where parents are faced with the tragedy of losing their child. For Chris Sloan and his wife, Carla they had to experience the pain of saying goodbye to their son Calder when he was just seven years old.

Calder, affectionately known as “Mr. Awesome,” was just 7 years old when he lost his life in a tragic accident caused by the electrification of a metal light in the family’s swimming pool. 

From this tragic event Chris and Carla look to honor their son and keep him memory alive when they created the Caleb and Calder’s Awesome Foundation.

Calder passed away on April 13, 2014 yet the boy’s impact was felt almost immediately when his hand-drawn self-portrait went viral, with major celebrities, professional athletes and other luminaries snapping selfies with the artwork, an effort that generated major awareness for the issue of pool safety and the need for better regulation. That exposure, along with his family’s tireless campaigning, led to the creation of the Calder Sloan Pool Safety Task Force statewide enacted by the Florida State Legislature, which has resulted in significant pool and water safety regulation and reform that they plan to expand nationally.

Not only are Chris and Carla helping out, but Calder’s younger brother, Caleb, will play an active role in the new foundation as he grows up.

Our Tommy Riles caught up with Chris at the PromaxBDA Conference in downtown L.A. Chris shared his thoughts with Tommy about his son, Calder and the impact of the foundation.

Sloan said, “We wanted to use our family’s example to try and prevent this from ever happening again. We galvanized a lot of media, officials and it became a real movement. At the same time we helped to change state laws and working on national laws.”

In regards to keeping his son’s spirit alive Sloan continued, “Calder really was about adventure, laughter and kindness. He really stood for those things. He was unique in that way. What was the most awesome about him was that he had a big heart. We as a family wanted to perpetuate his memory. We started doing a tremendous amounts of events to spread that energy, which he powers that.”

And spread that energy they did at the PromaxBDA conference.  With a Funhouse theme, a live DJ and the camaraderie of their colleagues, PromaxBDA members, made up of creative, marketing and design professionals from major media organizations, create bagged lunches, complete with inspiring messages for people in need of a nourishing meal. In collaboration with the local LA nonprofit #HashtagLunchBag, the goal was to make 2,000 meals, which they easily exceeded.  The lunches were then distributed immediately to shelters, kids, adults and families in the Los Angeles area. 

For more information on the Caleb and Calder’s Awesome Foundation visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pg/CCAwesomeFound.